Man befriends victims on gay dating app, robs them

A 29-year-old man made friends with people on a gay dating app and later visited their homes to rob them. The police arrested Sandeep Jadav (29) from Kalaburagi, who worked at an electronic showroom in Hyderabad.

Several incidents have been reported in the city where miscreants befriending people on a gay dating app visited their houses and robbed them after a brutal assault.

The CK Achukattu police arrested Jadav following a complaint they received in March by a manager of a garment factory who was robbed at his Rajajinagar house.

A senior police official said Rakesh (name changed) got in touch with Jadav after a two-year search on the Romeo gay dating app for a partner. While chatting on WhatsApp, Jadav told Rakesh in March that he would be coming to the city to meet him. Rakesh picked him up on his scooter and rode him home to Rajajinagar.

On reaching Rakesh’s house, the official said Jadav walked into the bathroom and called up a friend with instructions to reach Rakesh’s house. He then went into the bedroom and began to take off his clothes, when Rakesh revealed that he overheard the conversation in the bathroom and asked Jadav to leave. Jadav threatened to walk out naked and inform his neighbours that he was gay.

Having scared Rakesh into silence, Jadav and his friend made away with gold and other valuables taken from the house. Following Rakesh’s call detail record, the police arrested Jadav and recovered the stolen articles. They are searching for his friend, Madhu. The police are also checking if the duo is involved in similar crimes.

In a related incident, three men barged into a Bommanahalli flat on September 10, thrashed a man and snatched his phone, wallet and ATM card. They made him reveal the PIN number and withdrew Rs 1.35 lakh. The victim knew one of them from a dating app.